


In Circles

by MsTrick



Series: Carousel [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Boys Kissing, Canon-Typical Violence, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-16 11:23:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21507157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsTrick/pseuds/MsTrick
Summary: Jack’s perspective of the confrontation at the end of Chapter 6 ofCarousel (or How Everyone Found Out About Jack & Gabriel)All the pieces were in place – Jack loaded the pulse rifle with ammunition, fit the tactical visor over his face and shrugged his jacket on. The 76 burned hot on the skin of his back: a reminder for himself, a clue for Gabriel, a target for Reaper.
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: Carousel [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550206
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





	In Circles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [airafleeza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/airafleeza/gifts).



> This piece was commissioned by the lovely and talented airafleeza! Thank you for giving me a chance to return to this universe and for the absolutely incredible compliment of being commissioned to add to my own story <3 <3 <3
> 
> Go check out her fantastic fic _[Another habit like you](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18460217/chapters/43735013)_!

###

All the pieces were in place – some had fallen into his lap and others he’d positioned with care. Athena leaked specific rumors to lure in Reaper and Widowmaker. Winston isolated the area of Watchpoint: Gibraltar that would best serve their purpose. Little Fareeha, now armor-plated Captain Pharah, designed a strategy to give their agents a subtle advantage when the fighting started.

Torbjörn eyeballed the friendly Bastion unit and decided it would be better for everyone’s sakes if it was far from the sound of gunfire. Mei volunteered to escort it into the woods, since she wasn’t much of a fighter. There was a Vishkar architech and teleporter to relocate Ana as needed. A particle cannon hummed to life in Zarya’s capable hands.

Jack loaded the pulse rifle with ammunition, fit the tactical visor over his face and shrugged his jacket on. The 76 burned hot on the skin of his back: a reminder for himself, a clue for Gabriel, a target for Reaper.

As expected, it was a brawl. A legion of Talon goons on the ground tested the strength of Reinhardt and Brigitte’s shields as well as the skills of Tracer, McCree and the Shimada brothers. Torbjörn’s turrets were destroyed as quickly as he rebuilt them. Medics were always top targets, so Pharah prioritized shielding Mercy as she flew between the wounded.

Pinpointing Gabriel on a battlefield was a talent Jack had honed and practiced for over half his life. It was as easy to do now as when they’d been on the same side. They collided with the force of a supernova. Just like in Cairo, Soldier: 76 failed to remember his firearm was designed for long distance and Reaper failed to aim for the head. Bullets skimmed skin. They resorted to fisticuffs.

In spite of all Vishkar’s long term planning and Moira’s enhancements and Doomfist’s precise control, the conditioning that cobwebbed over Gabriel’s brain fizzled out when it came to killing Jack. Every time.

A nasty left hook smashed Jack’s visor and he twisted away, making space to paw it off his face. Gabriel might be pulling some of his punches, but they _were_ still punches.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack caught a flash of pink hair and launched himself back inside the range of Gabriel’s fists.

“ _Ogon’ po gotovnosti!_ ”

Gravity contracted around them, lifting their feet off the ground and drawing their bodies into a tight orbit.

Jack wasted no time in clawing at that bone white mask, the mask that could have been his, praying that Hanzo had guessed right and removing it would also claw Talon’s influence off of Gabriel.

It had to, he thought desperately. Talon wouldn’t have attempted to erase and destroy the evidence of behavior modification tech in their room at SEP if they weren’t still using it. And for all of Gabriel’s skewed ethics, he had always been out to save the world, not destroy it. Only some character-crushing external influence could tamper with that.

Ten steel-tipped fingers dug into Jack’s forearms but didn’t pierce the leather. In one breath, Jack had the mask in his hands, where it fractured. He glimpsed black eyes with red irises, bloody fissures opening in ashy skin just as Ana described, before Gabriel dematerialized into black smoke. It curled in on itself, a trapped raincloud.

Unable to escape, Reaper reformed with both shotguns and a murderous scowl on his face. And despite the gore and the unnatural shade, it was still Gabriel’s face.

Jack grabbed Gabriel’s shoulders and took two shotgun blasts to the stomach.

Agony crashed through him, a spreading pool of acid, twisting his body tight until the shock dunked his nervous system under ice. White noise screamed in his ears.

But he didn’t let go.

For a moment, Gabriel didn’t understand, didn’t make the connection between the shotguns in his hands and the blood spilling out of Jack’s gut. Had he…? His warped eyes flickered brown, widened in horror, darted down and back up.

In that heartbeat, Jack’s decades of commitment to keeping their love a secret evaporated. He leaned in and caught Gabriel’s mouth with his own, uncaring of who saw, uncaring of the firefight, uncaring of anything but the soft, familiar warmth of Gabriel’s lips.

Everything Gabriel had known with absolute certainty until a second ago – Jack was ashamed of their relationship, Strike Commander Morrison let him drown in the cesspool of Blackwatch, Soldier:76 needed to be eliminated – was suddenly as up in the air as they were.

They hit the ground like ragdolls, Jack clutching at his wounds, Ana’s sleep dart sticking out of Gabriel’s arm.

Just before Jack lost consciousness, beneath the billows of pain and the warmth of Mercy’s nanobiotics, he felt Gabriel’s dog tags shift against his skin beneath the layers of armor, and he smiled.

###

**Author's Note:**

> Side Note: I know Reaper can wraith out of Zarya’s ult in game, but a) that technically makes no sense because everything is subject to gravity and b) I needed him not to for plot purposes lol
> 
> Thanks for reading! Come hang out with me on Twitter [@MsTrick16](https://twitter.com/MsTrick16)!


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